Model Boat Mayhem

The Shipyard ( Dry Dock ): Builds & Questions => Navy - Military - Battleships: => Topic started by: sinjon on January 13, 2009, 04:58:50 pm

Title: Deck Planking stagger
Post by: sinjon on January 13, 2009, 04:58:50 pm
This is a bit difficult to explain !
When you are, lets say using a three plank stagger, what happens when you have to plank between two pieces of superstructure, do you continue the stagger across giving say, one half plank and perhaps a tiny piece, or cut down a full plank and fill the space in one go?
I can't believe that ship builders would work that way,  just to produce a ' pretty ' pattern.
I am planking a Bismarck, I have gone for the one plank - it looks awfully strange.

Colin
Title: Re: Deck Planking stagger
Post by: TCC on January 13, 2009, 05:28:16 pm
If it was me, and I had the time and energy and inclination, I'd carry the pattern on.

You'll be looking at this bit for a long time ahead and you'll always re-play this decision in your mind and if it's one of regret, you'll be looking at it as a 'fault' all that time.

My advice is to get it as right as you can while you have the chance as re-doing it later always involves far more tears with bent and broken fittings, miss-matching paints/varnish, etc.
Title: Re: Deck Planking stagger
Post by: dreadnought72 on January 13, 2009, 07:01:43 pm
I am planking a Bismarck, I have gone for the one plank - it looks awfully strange.
Colin, I think you're right to do so.

Imagine you're laying the decks on the real vessel, with a pile of planks cut and ready that are "the right size" for normal runs. You'd surely use a single plank to bridge a "shorter than plank" gap in a short space, when two short ones would seem to be "correct" with regards to the overall pattern.

After all, it's the gaps and breaks that introduce moisture: and "the pattern" is not really what's driving the people doing the deck laying.

It's what I've done on my Dreadnought here (http://personal.strath.ac.uk/andrew.goddard/dreadnought/decking6.html), in an admittedly rather soft photo, next to the short rows as they near the inner (superstructure) edge of P turret.

Regards,

Andy NA553568B

Title: Re: Deck Planking stagger
Post by: RickF on January 13, 2009, 11:17:00 pm
As far as I know, and I may be wrong, but.... if you take the average plank length at 20 feet, then the planking between structures, hatches etc. closer than that would have been done without any butt shifts ("staggers") using the full  length of the plank. I believe this is called "shutting in".

Rick
Title: Re: Deck Planking stagger
Post by: TCC on January 14, 2009, 12:34:24 am
I am planking a Bismarck, I have gone for the one plank - it looks awfully strange.
Colin, I think you're right to do so.

Imagine you're laying the decks on the real vessel, with a pile of planks...

With the greatest respect, but he's not on a full size vessel. He, and everyone else, will be standing above it and looking down and you'll see the pattern.

But what do I care, as the saying goes 'I won't see it from our house'.
Title: Re: Deck Planking stagger
Post by: dreadnought72 on January 14, 2009, 09:00:15 am
Ah, but TCC, this is the pride of the Nazi Navy. Surely they wouldn't nail in wee shims of wood when the entire Schwarzwald is available for chopping down?  %%

Andy NA553568B - and decking again. I can see the end in sight. For <ahem> the port side of the boat.  {:-{
Title: Re: Deck Planking stagger
Post by: TCC on January 15, 2009, 08:22:41 am
Ah, but TCC, this is the pride of the Nazi Navy. Surely they wouldn't nail in wee shims of wood when the entire Schwarzwald is available for chopping down?  %%

Andy NA553568B - and decking again. I can see the end in sight. For <ahem> the port side of the boat.  {:-{

Hiya
it's as the guy says, putting full strips in one area while the rest is staggered looks 'strange'. It's the difference between the real things and the models... we'd just walk on the planks in the real things, however, a model is for looking at and differences like that will draw ones eyes and it will always look like a short cut (excuse the pun)  :-)
Title: Re: Deck Planking stagger
Post by: victorian on February 05, 2009, 02:17:43 pm
These pictures of the deck planking joggle around the forward turret on the battleship Texas (1912) might be of interest.

(http://www.viewing.com/Kissimmee/Texas/DSCF0276%20(Small).JPG) (http://www.viewing.com/Kissimmee/Texas/DSCF0276.JPG)

(http://www.viewing.com/Kissimmee/Texas/DSCF0277%20(Small).JPG) (http://www.viewing.com/Kissimmee/Texas/DSCF0277.JPG)
Title: Re: Deck Planking stagger
Post by: dreadnought72 on February 05, 2009, 09:00:15 pm
Mmmmmmm ... love it. But then that's all I'm seeing these days.  %%

Andy